Latest News
August 20, 2012
SBEA Leadership Attends White House Forum
By: David Ickert, NSBA First Vice Chair and SBEA Past Chair, of Air Tractor in Olney, Texas. The White House Business Council hosted a forum on August 15, 2012 to address the topic of “American Economic Competitiveness – Manufacturing”. The four-hour event was held at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and included approximately thirty invited [Read More]
August 20, 2012
Look Ahead: Congressional “To Do” List
With Congress now midway through their 5-week August recess and rampantly campaigning in their home districts and states, the to-do list for both a lame-duck Congress and the upcoming 113th Session continue to grow. Lawmakers face rapidly dwindling work days remaining in the current session of Congress prior to elections and party conventions. The Senate [Read More]
August 20, 2012
Trade Deficit Drops Notably in June
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently announced that exports in June 2012 increased to $185 billion from May’s total exports of $183.3 billion. Additionally, imports were down $3.5 billion from January which resulted in a notable decrease in the goods and services deficit of $42.9 billion, [Read More]
April 27, 2012
Administration Seeks Input on Exporting Issues
The President’s Export Council, Subcommittee on Export Administration (PECSEA) is a federal advisory committee that provides industry advice to the U.S. Department of Commerce and Administration on issues related to export controls. The PECSEA Benchmarking Subcommittee developed a survey on the impact of export controls and priorities for export reform. This survey provides an important [Read More]
April 26, 2012
U.S.-Colombia FTA To Be Implemented in May
On April 15, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced that the U.S. and Colombia will enter into their trade agreement on May 15, a declaration which comes as President Barack Obama concluded his visit to Colombia for the Summit of the Americas. The free trade agreement, which had taken several years to complete before Congress [Read More]
April 26, 2012
Ex-Im Bank Debate Continues as Deal Gets Closer
On Tuesday, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) held a debate entitled: “U.S. Ex-Im Bank Financing is a Vital Component of U.S. Competitiveness.” The debate held in the Congressional Auditorium focused on the future of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im Bank) and its continued role as a key driver of U.S. exports [Read More]
April 26, 2012
SBEA Members Participate in Hill Events
On April 17, the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee held a hearing entitled: “Export-Import Bank Reauthorization: Saving American Jobs and Supporting American Exporters.” Sonya Kostadinova, a board member of the Small Business Exporters Association (SBEA)—the international trade arm of NSBA—testified before the committee on behalf of NSBA/SBEA. NSBA First Vice Chair, and SBEA [Read More]
April 26, 2012
U.S. Trade Deficit Declined in February
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently announced that exports in February 2012 increased to $181.2 billion from January’s total exports of $180.9 billion. Additionally, imports were down $6.3 billion from January which resulted in a notable decrease in the goods and services deficit from $52.5 billion [Read More]
April 26, 2012
SBA Solicits State Export Grant Applications
After awarding $30 million in grant funds in FY 2011, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is launching its second year of awarding funds to states through the State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) Program. STEP is a three-year pilot program authorized by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 to disburse a total of [Read More]
April 4, 2012
